


take flight

by TheQueenInTheNorth



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-01
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-07-28 12:39:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7640467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheQueenInTheNorth/pseuds/TheQueenInTheNorth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>they think her defeated<br/>they could not be more wrong</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

She let them chuck her into the cell, limp as a ragdoll, to be jeered at for a few days and then forgotten. Her existence and thus her arrest were carefully kept quiet, as not to alarm the Wizarding community. Everything has gone perfectly to plan so far. Now it was a simple matter of biding her time.

Six months, they had agreed. Six months was enough to lull them into their sense of security. Six months was nothing.

Or so she told herself.

The cold and the loneliness and the fear settled in without her being able to stop it. She couldn't stop thinking of Mother. She had been here so long. Had she ever lost faith? Had she always believed Father would return for her? Could Delphie ever be as strong as her?

She stopped eating, or so the guards thought. She threw the bowls of grime at them so they wouldn't notice the mouthfuls to keep her alive. She let her bones protrude more than they would have by themselves. Being a Metamorphmagus always was handy; them having no idea made it doubly so.

When Mama and Papa finally came to release her she was on the verge of succumbing to her surroundings. It had felt much, much longer than six months. The body they brought looked exactly like the disguise she affected towards that silly little brat Albus and her useless, soft cousin.

She laid her out in just the right way, in the corner she would always curl up."You starved her, yes?"

They likely wouldn't check for a cause of death but there was no way to know for certain.

"Of course,"the woman who raised her replied."We did everything exactly they way you wanted. The way you planned."

She nodded."Let's fetch Rodolphus, then. He's spent far too much time here already."

Rodolphus was weak in the knees and both Rowles moved forward to support him but Delphie waved them off, slinging an arm around his waist herself."Come now, nuncle. We have much work to do. My armies are waiting. I'm in need of a lieutenaunt."

He allowed her to lead him into freedom.

 


	2. Chapter 2

The grime of Askaban washed off her, Delphie wrapped herself in a bathrobe, enjoying the feeling of something other than the prison rags on her skin. She stepped infront of the mirror, tracing her jutting collar bone, her sunken cheeks, the bags under her eyes. The bathrobe hung loose on her emaciated body, her dark hair a wild, lackluster tumble. She looked terribly unhealthy, but at least she had finally been able to shed the disguise she'd worn for the Potter brat and her sniffeling disgrace of a cousin. She'd put him down eventually, like Mother had done to the disappointments of her time.

A knock brought her out of her contemplation. She sighed and turned away from the mirror."Yes?"

"It's me,"the woman who wasn't her mother announced rather unnecessarily. Who else would think it appropriate to trail after the Dark Lady in the making like this? She pushed open the door without waiting for an answer."The elves almost have dinner ready. Should I have them delay it?"

"I'll be with you in a moment,"Delphie dismissed her, but she didn't take the hint, rather stepping closer and gently caressing her cheek."It's good to see your face again."

There was a short, but noticeable catch in her breath at the end of the sentence, as if she wanted to say more but remembered herself at the last second. It didn't matter what it was. Maybe she wanted to say _Bella's face_. Maybe just a pet name she swallowed in time. _Love, Del, baby, sweetie._ She'd called her many things through the years. But that was when she was her mother, not her soldier. It was quite inappropriate, now. But Ursula couldn't bring herself to call her _my lady_ , and Delphie couldn't bring herself to demand it. They were Mama and Papa in her mind, though she took great care to never address them as such out loud. Those times were gone, and good riddance, too.

She stepped out of Ursula's reach, just slightly, a silent reprimand."I shall want Rodolphus there. See that he is ready."


	3. Chapter 3

Delphie set down her cutlery and glanced at the Rowles."Leave us."

Cassius inclinded his head and followed the order immediately; Ursula looked as if she wanted to protest but followed her husband. Once the door had closed behind them, Delphie turned to Rodolphus. He'd barely touched his plate."Are you feeling all right?"

"I'm fine." He took another delicate bite of food and gave her a wry smile."I'm simply unaccustomed to food that actually deserves that name."

"Ah." She shuddered at the thought of what they'd been given in Askaban; and Rodolphus had spent the most part of the last four decades there."Well, you have all the time you need to becomed used to freedom and all its perks, Uncle."

"Thank you,"he said, softly, the hint of a smile on his emaciated face."But I'm sure we're not here to discuss my eating habits?"

She smiled, too."No, of course not. But there is time for all that later. Once you've regained some strength."

He smiled wrily at that."What a useless lieutenant you've sattled yourself with."

"Oh, hush,"she said, waving him off."You shall prove very useful, I'm sure."

They fell silent for a few moments, Rodolphus continuing to pick as his food, aware of the almost hungry stare Delphie fixed him with, studiously ignoring it. Finally, she spoke again."Tell me about Mother."

"I would have thought Ursula would have told you enough,"he said. Delphie shrugged."I want to know something _real_. Mam- Ursula is quite biased. She loved her."

"I loved her, too."

"I know. But not like that."

"No,"he admits, fixing his attention back on his plate,"Never like that."

"I want to know what she was really like, not what Ursula build her up to be." She sighed."I would have asked Narcissa but I had to obliviate the whole family. Dear cousin Draco is, apparently, a changed man." She rolled her eyes heavenword."He was very shocked to find I exist. No more memories of holding me as a baby, afterall."

He heard the hurt in her words, even though she was the one to take those memories from him. But then, pain never was rational."What do you want to know?"

She leans across the table, eyes gleaming feverishly." _Everything_."


End file.
